For a moment, Orm's mind became filled with a tangled web of disturbing thoughts and half-formed theories.
Mother's friend... The Widow of Atlantis... Forbidden desires...
Suddenly, the heart of this emotionally starved mama's boy who had been deprived of maternal love throughout his entire life shattered into pieces.
My beloved mother, he thought with profound anguish, your son was willing to make the entire world his enemy and wage war against the surface for your memory. But you're actually consorting with some fish-creature you've known for less than a day?
Do you even remember that you have a son?
Atlanna stared at him in bewilderment. What? Why would you wage war against the world for me?
Ben raised his hand and delivered a solid knock to Orm's head, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain and surprise.
"What kind of twisted thoughts are rattling around in this kid's skull?" Ben muttered, shaking his head in exasperation.
He could see at a glance that Orm's imagination had spiraled into completely inappropriate territory, filled with scenarios that belonged in the worst kind of soap opera.
But to be absolutely clear, there was nothing remotely romantic or inappropriate between him and Atlanna. Ben had no interest in older women, regardless of how well they had aged. And despite her decades of exile, Atlanna's heart still belonged entirely to her husband Thomas. Even though the lighthouse keeper was now a balding, middle-aged man showing clear signs of Mediterranean male pattern baldness, her devotion had never wavered.
After all the strange things growing in the ocean, Ben reflected with dark humor, a little hair loss is hardly worth mentioning.
"Stop letting your imagination run wild!" Atlanna snapped with obvious irritation, delivering her own corrective slap to her son's head.
We can't keep this unfortunate child anymore, she thought with mounting frustration. Even his own mother is losing patience with him.
"If it wasn't because of my mother, then why did you spare my life?" Orm persisted, rubbing his head but still unable to comprehend the situation despite multiple physical corrections.
"It's quite simple," Ben explained with the patience of someone addressing a particularly slow student. "I hope you can set aside your prejudices and become the true ruler that Atlantis deserves."
He genuinely believed that Orm possessed the potential to build a meaningful bridge between the surface world and Atlantis. Although Arthur had attempted something similar in the original timeline, that well-meaning fool was too biased toward humanity and far too tolerant of their ongoing pollution of the oceans.
Such permissiveness was not beneficial for anyone involved.
"You want me to be king?" Orm stared at him in complete disbelief.
Nereus immediately became agitated, his carefully laid plans crumbling before his eyes. He had been prepared to sacrifice his daughter's happiness for political advantage, and now some fish-creature was handing the ultimate prize to his former rival?
According to normal protocol, he thought desperately, when such opportunities arise, shouldn't the father-in-law receive preferential consideration?
He rushed to Ben's side with his red beard practically bristling with indignation. "My dear son-in-law, surely you've made some mistake? How can you possibly allow Orm to become king?"
Ben glanced at him with an expression that clearly conveyed: Who exactly do you think you're addressing here?
Mera quickly swam over and pulled her father aside with obvious annoyance. "What business is this of yours? You were perfectly willing to follow Orm's plan to attack Ben just moments ago! I'm being generous by not making you face serious consequences for your betrayal, you stubborn old man!"
I give up, Nereus thought with resignation. This daughter of mine has completely switched sides.
"But what about you?" Orm asked, temporarily setting aside his deep-seated prejudices against surface dwellers. He was genuinely curious about Ben's motivations. "Since you've obtained Poseidon's Trident, why don't you become the supreme ruler of the oceans yourself?"
"Where would I find the time to babysit a single universe?" Ben replied with an eye roll that conveyed exactly how insignificant he considered such local authority.
He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Plumbers, sovereign of the planet Sakaar, ruler of the Fourth Galactic Empire, Lord of the Nine Realms, creator of the Genesis Dimension, guardian of multiple Infinity Stones... With so many space responsibilities and titles, which one wasn't infinitely more significant than being Lord of Seven Seas in a single reality? Did he really need to waste time managing this particular puddle?
"The matter is settled, and I'm not asking you to abandon your prejudices against surface dwellers immediately," Ben continued with the tone of someone issuing non-negotiable instructions. "Atlantis can join the Plumbers, an organization I founded. In this universe, the field commander responsible for Plumber operations is named Clark Kent. He's not from Earth originally, but rather represents an alien species with considerable capabilities."
"Plumbers... field commander..." Orm repeated the terms silently, processing the implications before finally nodding his acceptance.
"I'll do my best to fulfill these responsibilities."
"Excellent." Ben nodded with satisfaction, then added an important reminder. "Allowing Atlantis to establish friendly relations with the surface world doesn't mean your kingdom should submit passively to every human demand. For those who seriously pollute the ocean, take direct action!"
"Especially that island nation that's been dumping radioactive wastewater into the sea," he added with particular emphasis. "Just flood the entire country and be done with it!"
Without further ceremony, Ben extended Poseidon's Trident toward Orm.
"Here you go, this is your new executive authority. With it, you can transform into an aquatic deity and defeat any solar-powered threats you might encounter."
Orm didn't fully understand Ben's references, but he grasped the essential point: he was being entrusted with the legendary weapon and the vast power it represented, including the authority to declare war against surface nations if necessary.
Moreover, possessing the Trident would make him the legitimate Sea King with dominion over all seven oceanic kingdoms!
Witnessing this transfer of power, even Mera was momentarily stunned. She quickly pulled Ben's arm to guide him aside for a private conversation.
"Ben, why are you giving him the Trident?" she whispered urgently.
"Don't worry about it," Ben replied with casual confidence. "What I can give, I can also reclaim at any time."
"I've already transcended the need for such artifacts. The Trident's power is insignificant compared to my current capabilities."
He crossed his arms with complete nonchalance, radiating the calm assurance of someone operating far beyond mortal concerns.
Poseidon's Trident had genuinely recognized him as its true master, and the powerful forces within the artifact had become integrated with his essential being. Now, even without physical possession of the weapon, Ben's power could command the Seven Seas and surpass anyone wielding the device.
Furthermore, he maintained ultimate authority over the Trident itself. With a single thought, he could instantly revoke Orm's ownership and recall the weapon to his own hands.
At best, Orm was a temporary custodian. Ben remained the genuine Sea God.
"Besides, it's just one trident," he added with a casual gesture. "I can create as many as I want."
Ben flexed his wrist, and another golden harpoon materialized in his hand. The energy signature it emitted was identical to the Trident now held by Orm.
Nereus's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
What is this, wholesale Trident distribution?
To be fair, that wasn't entirely inaccurate.
Although this secondary weapon wasn't the original artifact, it was functionally equivalent in most respects, a perfect replica created through Omnitrix scanning and analysis.
While the device's primary function involved recording the genetic templates of intelligent species, its capabilities extended far beyond simple DNA collection.
Many alien civilizations required specialized equipment to maintain their optimal forms, for example, certain gravity-based species needed environmental regulators, while cosmic entities Ben could transform into possessed unique armor composed of Uru metal.
This demonstrated that the Omnitrix possessed the ability to replicate essential equipment associated with its stored genetic templates.
After analyzing the Trident's energy patterns, the device had determined that the weapon and Ripjaws were symbiotically linked. Therefore, when Ben assumed that transformation, he could also replicate the Trident's appearance and basic functions through his watch.
"Make one for me too!" Nereus rushed forward with shameless enthusiasm, practically offering to trade his remaining family members for the privilege.
"Not happening," Ben replied curtly, delivering a dismissive push that sent the overeager king floating backward through the water.
The Trident copied by the Omnitrix was constructed from identical materials as the original, but the mystical enchantments wouldn't transfer to the replica. At best, it would function as an exceptionally durable and beautiful harpoon. The energy fluctuations it displayed were actually Ben's own power channeled through the artifact's form.
Having arranged these political and administrative details, Ben had no intention of remaining in this universe any longer.
His arrival in the DC reality had been entirely accidental. Now that he'd accomplished his objectives and spent considerable time exploring this dimension, it was time to return to his primary responsibilities.
"I want to come with you!" Mera immediately raised her hand with obvious excitement.
She had discovered that following Ben was infinitely more interesting than remaining in Atlantis. Now he was planning to travel to another universe entirely, an adventure she had never dared imagine possible.
However, when he'd originally arrived here, he had relied on Banner's dimensional bracelet to stabilize the spatial transition. Now that he needed to cross between major dimensional barriers, the bracelet retained only basic positioning functions and couldn't facilitate the return journey.
"It turns out that relying on other people's technology is fundamentally unreliable," Ben muttered with frustration.
Even though Banner claimed to possess seven doctoral degrees, his research always seemed to have critical flaws. Either he transformed himself into the Hulk mid-experiment, or his work contained fundamental oversights that created problems later.
"I'll have to build the solution myself," he concluded with resignation.
He wasn't the only one who wanted to return to the Marvel Universe, and he couldn't depend on Banner's flawed equipment for such a crucial transition.
After delegating all Atlantean affairs to Orm's management, Ben departed the ocean with a collection of advanced Atlantean technological data and returned to the Kryptonian outpost spacecraft.
On the frozen glacier surrounding the crashed ship, Mera played excitedly in the snow, attempting to convince Faora to join her in an impromptu snowball fight.
Faora showed absolutely no interest in such frivolous activities. After being persistently annoyed by Mera's enthusiasm, she effortlessly lifted an iceberg several hundred meters tall and hurled it with casual precision, successfully burying the princess beneath tons of frozen water.
She finds Earth to be quite an entertaining world, Faora reflected with satisfaction.
The yellow solar radiation provided her with unprecedented experiences and power levels. As a Kryptonian warrior, her greatest source of joy came from enhancing her strength and engaging in meaningful combat with worthy opponents.
Unfortunately, Ben had strictly forbidden them from fighting at full capacity, which limited her opportunities for genuine satisfaction.
After easily subduing Mera's playful assault, Faora returned to the outpost spacecraft with a somewhat sullen expression.
The vessel that had originally resembled a metallic seed pod had been completely transformed. The outpost had been systematically dismantled into organized piles of components, with various technological elements sorted and catalogued like materials in an advanced research facility.
Among the mechanical debris, a red-armored figure resembling a highly sophisticated crab held technical blueprints, studying them with obvious intellectual superiority before shaking his head with dismissive superiority.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, the computational capacity of Galvan minds is simply inadequate," the Brainstorm transformation declared with scientific arrogance. "They can't even comprehend these basic principles. Compared to my intellectual capabilities, they lag pathetically far behind. I'm being diplomatically generous in that assessment."
"When do we depart?" Faora approached Ben through the maze of components and asked directly.
"Can't you see I'm occupied with critical work?" Ben replied without looking up from his calculations.
"If we don't successfully convert this outpost into a dimensional gateway capable of traversing universal barriers, we'll have no method for breaking through the space boundaries. I might survive the transition, but you certainly won't. I'm being polite in that prognosis."
Ben set down the blueprint with obvious frustration.
Traveling between two dimensions with fundamentally different universal laws wasn't a simple undertaking. Even with his tremendous power, he needed to approach the project with appropriate caution.
To achieve this goal, Ben alternated between his Brainstorm and Grey Matter transformations, attempting to identify potential flaws and perfect the design through multiple perspectives.
However, he hadn't anticipated that even though he was the consciousness controlling both alien forms, they would develop distinct personalities that actively disliked each other.
Grey Matter criticized Brainstorm for being excessively rigid and dogmatic in his approach; Brainstorm mocked the Galvan transformation for possessing insufficient computational power and being intellectually inferior, claiming that the mathematical data provided by Grey Matter contained actual errors.
Overall, neither transformation respected the other's contributions, yet their collaboration produced remarkable results.
Through their mutual intellectual competition and complementary capabilities, the dimensional gateway blueprints were being rapidly refined and improved.
"I hope you don't forget your promise to me," Faora said with barely restrained intensity.
"Do you think I'm some Galvan with amphibian-level cognitive capacity?" Brainstorm replied with mechanical disdain. "Moreover, according to my calculations, reconstructing Krypton will provide significant benefits for enhancing Plumber organizational strength. Only a muscle-bound fool who solves problems through brute force rather than intellectual analysis would forget such an obviously beneficial arrangement. I'm being diplomatically courteous in that assessment."
"Now, unless you have something genuinely important to contribute, please depart. Your presence here serves only to interfere with critical work. I'm being polite in suggesting your removal."
Ben essentially ordered her to leave the work area so he could concentrate on the complex engineering challenges.
Under the implicit threat of Orm wielding Poseidon's Trident, Atlantis achieved unprecedented unity among its formerly fractious political factions.
This time, even the traditionally rebellious warriors from the Brine Kingdom acknowledged his authority without resistance.
Atlanna finally returned to the coastal cabin she had been separated from for decades, experiencing an emotionally overwhelming reunion with her surface family.
For Arthur, this represented an incredible surprise that transformed his understanding of his personal history and family connections.
After their long-awaited family reunion, Atlanna shared everything she had experienced during her years of exile and expressed her hope that Arthur would join the Plumbers as Atlantis's official representative to the surface world.
"Your brother Orm will formalize Atlantis's alliance with the Plumbers and coordinate our military forces," she explained. "But as the ruling king of Atlantis, he cannot remain on the surface for extended periods."
"So he needs an ambassador to the Plumbers?" Arthur crossed his muscular arms and immediately grasped the political implications.
"That's precisely what I mean."
"It's not that I'm unwilling to help," Arthur replied, holding his forehead with obvious concern. "But you probably don't understand the current situation the Plumbers are facing. The guy called Superman is too idealistic and inflexible. Dozens of countries have declared war against him. The organization hasn't even been officially established yet, and I think it's already doomed to failure."
Atlanna shook her head with confident disagreement.
"Arthur, you lack confidence in the Plumbers because you don't truly comprehend how powerful Ben actually is."
"Atlantis possesses the capability to submerge all continents and effectively destroy surface civilization. Your brother Orm can now destabilize the Seven Seas single-handedly. This represents force that human governments simply cannot resist. And Ben's power exceeds even these capabilities."
"That Superman named Clark Kent belongs to an alien species with tremendous natural abilities. His strength approaches Ben's level. Human weapons are completely insignificant when confronted with such beings."
Atlanna was absolutely certain that if genuine warfare erupted, the Plumbers would achieve victory rapidly without even requiring Atlantis's assistance.
Her confidence proved to be entirely justified.
Clark demonstrated his incredible magnanimity and restraint.
To avoid damaging Earth's environment through combat, he deliberately chose space as his battlefield, maintaining a completely defensive posture and allowing all nations to deploy their most powerful weapons against him without retaliation.
After enduring bombardment from dozens of nuclear weapons, he remained suspended in the space void like an invincible deity, his back silhouetted against the blazing sun, completely unharmed by humanity's greatest destructive forces.
On this day, the people of Earth finally understood Superman's true power level and what they were actually confronting.
In his hidden Batcave, Bruce Wayne observed the entire conflict through his private satellite network, watching as one individual waged war against the entire world.
When he witnessed that even nuclear weapons couldn't inflict any damage on Clark, his heart sank with the weight of terrible realization.
If the most powerful weapons in human history proved completely ineffective, what alternative methods existed for neutralizing such a threat?
If this being decided to harm Earth, how could such danger possibly be countered?
"I can't defeat them, so it appears I have no choice but to join them," Bruce Wayne concluded with resigned pragmatism.
The billionaire decided to approach the alien diplomatically, learn more about his background and motivations, then develop appropriate contingency plans based on that intelligence.
Meanwhile, Barry Allen was experiencing considerable excitement about recent developments.
After possessing superhuman abilities for so long without purpose or direction, he had finally discovered an organization where his powers could serve a meaningful cause.
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